Almost every year that Karen Curtis' son has resided at Taunton State Hospital, Gov. Deval Patrick has announced plans to shutter the institution for people with mental illness.

This year is no different.

Patrick did not include funding for Taunton State Hospital in his new budget.

Instead, state officials propose to move the 45 remaining beds from Taunton to the new Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital.

Dozens of beds at the state-of-the-art Worcester facility are going empty, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Deputy Commissioner Clifford Robinson said last week.

The Worcester center has 320 beds, including 260 for adults. Right now 52 of the beds are not in use, Robinson said.

Patrick tried to close Taunton State Hospital a couple of years ago when the Worcester center opened.

A compromise reached after families from Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts complained left 45 beds at Taunton, while shifting 124 to Worcester.

Last year the administration attempted to move the rest of the beds.

Curtis fears that this year state officials will finally get their wish, to the detriment of families from Southeastern Massachusetts whose family members require longer-term hospitalization for severe mental illness.

"The drive — that's the No. 1 issue," said Curtis, a Harwich resident.

She said she and her husband visit their 24-year-old son, who has a schizoaffective disorder and mild developmental delays, at Taunton State Hospital every weekend.

Their son has lived at the hospital for four years and "is doing very well," Curtis said. "His goal is to move to a cottage on the grounds, and he's getting there."

A trip that currently takes an hour and 15 minutes each way would stretch to two hours or longer if their son were moved to Worcester, Curtis said.

She said she has contacted politicians from the Cape and Southeastern Massachusetts about her concerns.

"They've all been supportive," Curtis said.

State officials are talking about arranging transportation, such as cars or vans, for family members who have loved ones at Worcester to make the trip easier for them, Robinson said.

He said 80 Department of Youth Services beds will remain at Taunton, as well as a 16-bed intensive residential unit for adolescent girls.

A new 40-bed rehabilitation program operated by High Point of Plymouth is scheduled to open on the grounds of the 159-year-old state hospital next month, Robinson said.

Curtis said she doesn't understand why beds are going empty at Worcester when people seeking inpatient mental health care are backed up in emergency rooms — the first stop in the quest for treatment for many patients.

Knowing that he will see his parents every weekend keeps her son's hopes up, Curtis said.